One Of The Greatest Space Games Of All Time Returns

When old-timers talk about the halcyon days of space games, they mention series like X-Wing and Wing Commander. They also, in the same breath - and often before - mention Elite.

The pioneering space trading and combat game, first released in 1984 (and which saw an equally ambitious sequel in 1993) remains one of the most expansive gaming experiences around, with players free to explore a galaxy and do more than just shoot the place up.

Series creator David Braben has been talking about a new game in the series for nearly a decade now, but has today seemingly made that pledge a lot more serious, opening up a Kickstarter campign for Elite: Dangerous.

Here's Braben's pitch:

Elite: Dangerous is the game I have wanted Frontier to make for a very long time. The next game in the Elite series - an amazing space epic with stunning visuals, incredible gameplay and breath-taking scope, but this time you can play with your friends too. I want a game that feels more like the original "Elite" to fly, and with more rapid travel (to allow for the multi-player nature of the game) — so you travel quickly using local ‘hyperspace' travel rather than by fast-forwarding time — but with the rich galaxy of Frontier — and more, so much more.

He mentions things like procedurally-generated art and multiplayer modes, but what concerns me - with regards to the fate of the campaign, and not the game itself - is the lack of anything to show people. There's just a logo. No concept art, no prototype trailers, nothing. Considering the project is being put together by an established game studio, behind titles like Lostwinds, that's a little disappointing.

It'll also be interesting to see if they can meet that goal: it's one thing for a game to ask for $US400,000 from fans, but £1,250,000 (just under USD$2 million) is a lot.

Ooohhh man... Elite is one of my all-time favourites. I lost God-only-knows how many hours playing that on the C64 with the old wireframe vector graphics. Then I got an Amiga and bought it for that and started playing all over again, revelling in the glory of solid polygons instead of wireframes and a smooth frame rate. Great, great game. I never liked Frontier very much, though - seemed more an experiment by David Braben to try and make the most realistic space game he could rather than one that was actually interesting / fun to play.

I remember my cousins had this game called "Elite" (as we pronounced it - 'e-lite') for their NES, but we never actually played it for some reason. Can't remember if it was because it was too hard or a "grown ups" game, or boring, or what.

Always wished I could have snagged their old NES stuff for myself rather than my aunt just chucking it out like she has a habit of doing.

Are these backers serious, Crowed fund a game that to me in the kickstarter description has no substance compared to Star Citizens long and lengthily R&D that has been done and are ready to make the game NOW..

In my opinion i hope this kickstarter project fails so he can have a look at what Star Citizen are doing and what they are willing to give back to the community for backing them, the pledges are not even worth the money put into the game.

As much as i would love another game like this, go back to the drawing board and don't try and ride another similar games idea to get funding.

Star Citizen wouldn't even have seen the light of day if Elite was never developed, kid. Sure the gfx look good but the system that's behind Elite is just massive and has been fine-tuned for years, which makes for great gameplay. That is what 'Star Citizen' still have to proof.

But, unlike some, I do look forward seeing Star Citizen, Elite and other space faring game succeed because there is plenty of room still for those kind of games.